The Enlightenment a Sourcebook and Reader

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Enlightenment a Sourcebook and Reader The Enlightenment A sourcebook and reader Edited by Paul Hyland with Olga Gomez and Francesca Greensides Routledge Taylor & Francis Group LONDON AND NEW YORK Contents List of illustrations ix Preface xi Acknowledgements xiii A note on the texts xvii PART ONE Sources 1 1 Human nature 3 Thomas Hobbes Leviathan (1651) 8 Alexander Pope An Essay on Man (1733-34) 11 Julien Offray de La Mettrie Man a Machine (1747) 14 Jean-Jacques Rousseau Discourse on Inequality (1755) 17 Denis Diderot 'Colour of the Inhabitants' and 'Wretched Condition of the Slaves in America' from Raynal's History of the „ Settlements ([1772], 1780) 20 Marquis de Condorcet Sketch of a Historical Picture of the Human Mind (1795) _ 27 2 The search for knowledge 33 Isaac Newton Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (1687) 37 John Locke An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690) 40 David Hume A Treatise of Human Nature (1739) 45 Jean d'Alembert 'Preliminary Discourse'to the Encyclopedie (1751) 49 Immanuel Kant 'What is Enlightenment?' (1784) 53 3 Religion and belief 59 John Toland Christianity not Mysterious (1696) 64 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Essays on Theodicy (1710) 68 VI CONTENTS David Hume 'Of Miracles' from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748) 71 Voltaire Poem on the Lisbon Disaster (1756); 'Theist' from Philosophical Dictionary (17'64) 75 Jean-Jacques Rousseau 'The Profession of Faith of a Savoyard Priest' from Emile (.1762) 83 Baron d'Holbach Common Sense (1772) 87 4 The natural world 91 Stephen Hales Vegetable Statics (1727) 95 Carolus Linnaeus System of Nature (1735) 102 Comte de Buffon History of Man and the Quadrupeds (1753) 107 Denis Diderot Thoughts on the Interpretation of Nature (1753) 111 Jean-Jacques Rousseau Reveries of the Solitary Walker (1782) 117 5 Science and invention 122 Voltaire Letters Concerning the English Nation (1733) 126 Comte de Buffon History and Theory of the Earth (1749) 131 Louis Jaucourt 'Invention' from the Encyclopedie (1765) 134 Engravings of Technology from the Encyclopedie (1751-72) 138 Erasmus Darwin Zoonomia (1794-96) 140 6 Political rights and responsibilities 148 John Locke Two Treatises of Government (1690) 153 Baron de Montesquieu The Spirit of the Laws (1748) 162 Catherine II Instruction (17'67) 171 Frederick II Essay on the Forms of Government (1777) 173 7 The development of civil society 176 Giambattista Vico New Science ([1725], 1744) 182 Adam Ferguson An Essay on the History of Civil Society (1767) 188 Adam Smith The Wealth of Nations (1776) 192 Edward Gibbon The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776-88) 201 8 Moral principles and punishments 209 David Hume An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals (1751) 213 Marchese di Beccaria On Crimes and Punishments (1764) 216 Immanuel Kant Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals (1785) 220 Jeremy Bentham The Principles of Morals and Legislation (1789) 223 Marquis de Sade Philosophy in the Boudoir (1795) 228 9 Gender and society ' 233 MaryAstell A Serious Proposal to the Ladies (1694) 237 Richard Steele Tatler, no. 149 (1710); Spectator, no. 66 (1711); Englishman', no. 9 (1713) 241 Catharine Macaulay Letters on Education (1790) 246 Olympe de Gouges The Rights of Woman (1791) 249 Mary Wollstonecraft A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) 253 10 Art, architecture and nature 259 Jean-Jacques Rousseau Discourse on the Arts and Sciences (1750) 261 Marc-Antoine Laugier Essay on Architecture (1753) 264 William Chambers Treatise on Civil Architecture ([1759], 1791) 266 Jean-Simeon Chardin La Raie (1725-26); Le Benedicite (1740) 270 Denis Diderot 'Chardin' from Salons (1759-69) 271 William Hogarth Beer Street (1751); Gin Lane (1751) 275 CONTENTS VII Horace Walpole 'William Hogarth' and 'On Modern Gardening' from Anecdotes of Painting in England (1762-71) 278 Thomas Gainsborough Mr and Mrs Robert Andrews (1748-50); Girl with Pigs (17'82) 286 Joshua Reynolds 'The Grand Style of Painting' from Johnson's Idler, no. 79 (1759); 'Gainsborough' from Discourse XIV (1788) 289 Joseph Wright An Experiment on a Bird in an Air Pump (1768) 294 11 Europeans and the wider world 296 Mary Wortley Montagu Embassy Letters (1763) 299 Abbe Raynal A Philosophical and Political History of the Settlements ([1772], 1780) 304 James Cook A Voyage towards the South Pole and Round the World (1777) 309 Denis Diderot Supplement to the Voyage of Bougainville (1796) 319 12 Radicalism and revolution 328 Thomas Jefferson A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774); Notes on the State of Virginia (1787) 331 Thomas Paine The Rights of Man (1791-92) 341 William Godwin An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793) 347 13 Autobiographical reflections 352 Jean-Jacques Rousseau Confessions (1781) 355 Benjamin Franklin Autobiography (1791) 360 Madame de Roland An Appeal to Impartial Posterity (1795) 369 PART TWO Reader 375 14 Modern critical reflections 377 Ernst Cassirer The Philosophy of the Enlightenment (1932) 380 Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer The Dialectic of Enlightenment (1947) 383 Jiirgen Habermas The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere (1962) 386 Peter Gay The Enlightenment: An Interpretation (1969) 389 Robert Darnton The Business of Enlightenment (1979) 392 Jean-Francois Lyotard The Postmodern Condition (1979) 396 Michel Foucault 'What is Enlightenment?'(1984) * 398 SylvanaTomaselli 'The Enlightenment Debate on Women'(1985) 400 Joan Wallach Scott 'French Feminists and the Rights of "Man" ' (1989) 405 PARTTHREE Chronology and further reading 411 Chronology 4i3 Further reading 419 Index 453.
Recommended publications
  • To Teach Every Principle of the Infidels and Republicans? William Godwin Through His Children's Books
    To Teach Every Principle of the Infidels and Republicans? William Godwin Through His Children's Books John-Erik Hansson Thesis submitted for assessment with a view to obtaining the degree of Doctor of History and Civilization of the European University Institute Florence, 23 November 2018 European University Institute Department of History and Civilization To Teach Every Principle of the Infidels and Republicans? William Godwin Through His Children's Books John-Erik Hansson Thesis submitted for assessment with a view to obtaining the degree of Doctor of History and Civilization of the European University Institute Examining Board Ann Thomson, EUI (Supervisor) Stéphane Van Damme, EUI Pamela Clemit, Queen Mary, University of London (External Advisor) Gregory Claeys, Royal Holloway, University of London © John-Erik Hansson, 2018 No part of this thesis may be copied, reproduced or transmitted without prior permission of the author Researcher declaration to accompany the submission of written work Department of History and Civilization - Doctoral Programme I John-Erik Hansson certify that I am the author of the work 'To Teach Every Principle of the Infidels and Republicans?' I have presented for examination for the Ph.D. at the European University Institute. I also certify that this is solely my own original work, other than where I have clearly indicated, in this declaration and in the thesis, that it is the work of others. I warrant that I have obtained all the permissions required for using any material from other copyrighted publications. I certify that this work complies with the Code of Ethics in Academic Research issued by the European University Institute (IUE 332/2/10 (CA 297).
    [Show full text]
  • Full Name: Enlightenment: the Making of the Modern World Short
    Full Name: Enlightenment: The Making of the Modern World Short Title: Enlightenment Lecturer Name and Email Address: Darrell Jones ([email protected]) ECTS Weighting: 10 Semester Taught: HT Year: JS Content: The term ‘Enlightenment’ simultaneously refers to an historical period, a philosophical project, and a social and political process. The period covered most of the eighteenth century, though scholars disagree about when it began and ended. The project promoted reason, experience, and a secular ‘science of man’ over traditional and institutional sources of moral and intellectual authority, but its proponents were often in conflict with each other as much as with their mutual adversaries. The process established the modern concepts of liberty, equality, and rights, yet recent critics have attacked its initiators as racists, misogynists, and imperialists. Among the major Enlightenment thinkers were John Locke, Voltaire, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Thomas Paine, and Mary Wollstonecraft. For better or worse, their hopes for human progress and the future of civilization have shaped the contemporary world. This module will facilitate critical engagement with the complex phenomenon of Enlightenment by introducing historical definitions and current theories; exploring and examining central themes and texts; and considering and evaluating controversial issues that continue to influence public debate today. In the spirit of Enlightenment, the module will equip and encourage students to question their assumptions and think for themselves by placing claims to knowledge and power in historical and cultural context. Learning Outcomes: On successful completion of the module a student should be able to: 1. define Enlightenment as an historical, philosophical, and socio-political phenomenon; 2.
    [Show full text]
  • 'A Chief Standard Work': the Rise and Fall of David Hume's' History of England'. 1754-C. 1900
    ’A CHIEF STANDARD WORK’: THE RISE AND FALL OF DAVID HUME’S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 1754-C.1900. UNIVERSITY OF LONDON PhD THESIS JAMES ANDREW GEORGE BAVERSTOCK UNIVERSITY COLLEGE [LONOIK. ProQuest Number: 10018558 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest. ProQuest 10018558 Published by ProQuest LLC(2016). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Abstract. This thesis examines the influence of David Hume’s History of England during the century of its greatest popularity. It explores how far the long-term fortunes of Hume’s text matched his original aims for the work. Hume’s success in creating a classic popular narrative is demonstrated, but is contrasted with the History's failure to promote the polite ’coalition of parties’ he wished for. Whilst showing that Hume’s popularity contributed to tempering some of the teleological excesses of the ’whig version’ of English history, it is stressed that his work signally failed in dampening ’Whig’/ ’Tory’ conflict. Rather than provide a new frame of reference for British politics, as Hume had intended, the History was absorbed into national political culture as a ’Tory’ text - with important consequences for Hume’s general reputation as a thinker.
    [Show full text]
  • Catharine Macaulay and the Liberal and Republican Origins of American Public Administration
    Cleveland State University EngagedScholarship@CSU ETD Archive 2008 Catharine Macaulay and the Liberal and Republican Origins of American Public Administration Lisa Thomas Cleveland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/etdarchive Part of the Urban Studies and Planning Commons How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! Recommended Citation Thomas, Lisa, "Catharine Macaulay and the Liberal and Republican Origins of American Public Administration" (2008). ETD Archive. 291. https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/etdarchive/291 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by EngagedScholarship@CSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in ETD Archive by an authorized administrator of EngagedScholarship@CSU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CATHARINE MACAULAY AND THE LIBERAL AND REPUBLICAN ORIGINS OF AMERICAN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION LISA THOMAS Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History Coe College May, 1976 Master of Business Administration Baldwin Wallace College June, 1984 Submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN URBAN STUDIES AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS at the CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY March, 2008 DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my parents. I wish they could be here to celebrate with me. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In considering how this dissertation was accomplished, there are so many people to thank. I am indebted to friends and family for their constant encouragement, unwavering support, and having faith in me despite doubts in myself. Deserving special attention and fealty for life is my dissertation chair, Professor Michael Spicer. He awakened in me a passion for research and a love of political philosophy.
    [Show full text]
  • De Sade's Theatrical Passions
    06.puchner 4/19/05 2:28 PM Page 111 Martin Puchner Sade’s Theatrical Passions The Theater of the Revolution The Marquis de Sade entered theater history in 1964 when the Royal Shakespeare Company, under the direction of Peter Brook, presented a play by the unknown author Peter Weiss entitled, The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade.1 Marat/Sade, as the play is usually called, became an extraordinary success story.2 By com- bining narrators with techniques developed in a multi-year workshop entitled “Theater of Cruelty,” Marat/Sade managed to link the two modernist visionaries of the theater whom everybody had considered to be irreconcilable opposites: Bertolt Brecht and Antonin Artaud. Marat/Sade not only fabricated a new revolutionary theater from the vestiges of modernism, it also coincided with a philosophical and cul- tural revision of the French revolution that had begun with Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer’s The Dialectics of Enlightenment (1944/69) and found a preliminary culmination in Michel Foucault’s History of Madness (1972). At the same time, the revival of Sade was fu- eled by the first complete publication of his work in French (1967) and by Roland Barthes’ landmark study, Sade Fourier Loyola (1971).3 Marat/Sade had thus hit a theatrical and intellectual nerve. Sade, however, belongs to theater history as more than just a char- acter in a play.Little is known about the historical Sade’s life-long pas- sion for the theater, about his work as a theater builder and manager, an actor and director.
    [Show full text]
  • Enlightenment Thinkers and Democratic Government
    1.3 Enlightenment Thinkers and Democratic Government Standard 1.3: Enlightenment Thinkers and Democratic Government Explain the influence of Enlightenment thinkers on the American Revolution and the framework of American government. (Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for History and Social Studies) [8.T1.3] FOCUS QUESTION: How did the Enlightenment Contribute to the Growth of Democratic Principles of Government? Building Democracy for All 1 "British Museum Room 1 Enlightenment" by Mendhak is licensed under CC-BY-SA-2.0 The Enlightenment (or Age of Reason) is the term used to define the outpouring of philosophical, scientific, and political knowledge in Europe at the beginning of the 18th century. European civilization had already experienced the Renaissance (1300-1600) and the Scientific Revolution (1550-1700). The Enlightenment further transformed intellectual and political life based on the application of science to dramatically alter traditional beliefs and practices. Explore our resourcesforhistoryteachers wiki page to learn more about the Main Ideas of Enlightenment Thinkers. Enlightenment thinkers believed that rational reasoning could apply to all forms of human activity. Their writing can be "broadly understood to stand for the claim that all individuals have the right to Building Democracy for All 2 share their own ends for themselves rather than let others do it for them" (Pagden, 2013, p. x). Politically, they asked what was the proper relationship of the citizen to the monarch or the state. They held that society existed as a contract between individuals and some larger political entity. They advanced the idea of freedom and equality before the law. Enlightenment ideas about how governments should be organized and function influenced both the American and French Revolutions.
    [Show full text]
  • MATERIALISM: a HISTORICO-PHILOSOPHICAL INTRODUCTION Charles Wolfe
    MATERIALISM: A HISTORICO-PHILOSOPHICAL INTRODUCTION Charles Wolfe To cite this version: Charles Wolfe. MATERIALISM: A HISTORICO-PHILOSOPHICAL INTRODUCTION. MATERI- ALISM: A HISTORICO-PHILOSOPHICAL, Springer International Publishing, 2016, Springer Briefs, 978-3-319-24818-9. 10.1007/978-3-319-24820-2. hal-01233178 HAL Id: hal-01233178 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01233178 Submitted on 24 Nov 2015 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. MATERIALISM: A HISTORICO-PHILOSOPHICAL INTRODUCTION Forthcoming in the Springer Briefs series, December 2015 Charles T. Wolfe Centre for History of Science Department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences Ghent University [email protected] TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 (Introduction): materialism, opprobrium and the history of philosophy Chapter 2. To be is to be for the sake of something: Aristotle’s arguments with materialism Chapter 3. Chance, necessity and transformism: brief considerations Chapter 4. Early modern materialism and the flesh or, forms of materialist embodiment Chapter 5. Vital materialism and the problem of ethics in the Radical Enlightenment Chapter 6. Naturalization, localization: a remark on brains and the posterity of the Enlightenment Chapter 7. Materialism in Australia: The Identity Theory in retrospect Chapter 8.
    [Show full text]
  • The Seneca Falls Convention
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación END OF DEGREE PROJECT THE ORIGINS OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES: THE SENECA FALLS CONVENTION Anne Ruiz Ulloa Translation & Interpreting 2018-2019 Supervisor: Jose Mª Portillo Valdés Department of Contemporary History Abstract: In the 19th century, women had very limited or almost inexistent rights. They lived in a male dominated world where they had restricted access to many fields and they were considered to be an ornament of their husband in public life, and as a domestic agent to the interior of the family, as the Spanish contemporary expression ángel del hogar denotes. In the eyes of the law, they were civilly dead. They were considered fragile and delicate, because they were dependent on a man from birth to death. Tired of being considered less than their male companions, a women’s rights movement emerged in the small town of Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. Women gathered for the first time in history at the Wesleyan Chapel to discuss women’s rights and to find a solution to the denigration they had suffered by men and society during the years. Around 300 people gathered in Seneca Falls, both men and women. As an attempt to amend the wrongs of men, these women created the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments, a document based on the Declaration of Independence, expressing their discontent with how the society had treated them and asking for a change and equal rights, among which there was the right for suffrage.
    [Show full text]
  • The French Revolution's Influence on Women's Rights
    The French Revolution’s Influence on Women’s Rights Kelsey Flower When looking back on the French Revolution, many think of the natural human rights men gained with the adoption of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen in August of 1798. However, most people disregard the progress in women’s rights that also occurred during the revolution. As Shirley Elson Roessler, author of the book Out of the Shadows, says, “The topic of women’s participation in the French Revolution has generally received little attention from historians, who have displayed a tendency to minimize the role of women in the major events of those years, or else to ignore it all together.”1 While it is true that women did not gain explicit rights during this time, the women of the French Revolution and the activities they participated in did influence feminism and women’s rights from that point forward. The French women’s March on Versailles, their political clubs and pamphlets, and their prominent women political figures all contributed to changing the way women were viewed in society. Although these views and rights were taken away again during Napoleon’s rule, they set the precedent for women’s rights in the future. During the Ancien Régime, the political and social system in France before the revolution occurred,2 both single and married women had few rights. Until they were married, women were controlled by their fathers and after marriage this control shifted to the husband. Women had no power over their property or even over their own person.
    [Show full text]
  • Liberty and American Experience in the Eighteenth Century
    Liberty and American Experience in the Eighteenth Century Liberty and American Experience in the Eighteenth Century Edited and with an Introduction by David Womersley Liberty Fund Indianapolis Amagi books are published by Liberty Fund, Inc., a foundation established to encourage study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. The cuneiform inscription that appears in the logo and serves as a design element in all Liberty Fund books is the earliest-known written appearance of the word ‘‘freedom’’ (amagi), or ‘‘liberty.’’ It is taken from a clay document written about 2300 b.c. in the Sumerian city-state of Lagash. © 2006 by Liberty Fund ‘‘Federalism, Constitutionalism, and Republican Liberty: The First Constructions of the Constitution’’ reprinted from Lance Banning, ConceivedinLiberty(Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield, 2004), 35–70. © 2004 by Rowman and Littlefield. ‘‘The Dialectic of Liberty’’ reprinted by permission of the publisher from Robert Ferguson, Reading the Early Republic (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2004), 51–83. © 2004 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America 10 09 08 07 06 p 54321 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Liberty and American experience in the eighteenth century/edited and with an Introduction by David Womersley. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn-13: 978-0-86597-629-0 (pbk.: alk. paper) isbn-10: 0-86597-629-5 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Liberty. 2. Civil rights—United States—History—18th century. I. Womersley, David. II. Liberty Fund. III. Title. jc585 .l424 2006 323.440973'09033—dc22 2005034720 liberty fund, inc.
    [Show full text]
  • Market, Modernity, and the Enlightenment on James
    BARBARIAN PHILOSOPHE: MARKET, MODERNITY, AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT O N JAMES SMITH'S FRONTIER Michael B. McCoy SUNY Orange Uncivilized!" "Little better than barbarians!"1 This is how Patrius, /an scat otherwise anonymous writer, described the "savages" tered throughout the dark forests of Pennsylvania's border lands. Years later, another Philadelphian, Dr. Benjamin Rush, picked up where Patrius left off, and denounced the people of as Pennsylvania's marchlands "rude", "licentious," and "half civilized."2 Outlandish in their habits and habitations, strange in were an their appearance, such savages abomination requir ing immediate attention. Immediate attention indeed, for these were not just any savages, theywere white men. It iswell known that one of the main justifications used by European elites in their conquest of the world was that they were "civilized" while those were Yet they encountered "savages" and "barbarians."3 these men were writing neither about Indians nor Africans; these barbarians where members of Patrius and Rush's own culture, poorer frontier dwellers of European descent who revealed their backwardness by resisting market integration and the expansion PENNSYLVANIA HISTORY: A JOURNALOF MID-ATLANTIC STUDIES, VOL. 76, NO. 3, 2009. Copyright ? 2009 The Pennsylvania Historical Association This content downloaded from 128.118.152.206 on Fri, 6 Feb 2015 11:01:02 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions PENNSYLVANIA HISTORY of commerce. But they did much more. Distant though they were from the salon culture of Paris, Edinburgh, and Philadelphia, rustics actively partici in pated the transnational exchange of ideas?the Enlightenment?operating within and against the framework of European progress, and enlightened notions of commerce.
    [Show full text]
  • Locating John Toland
    Locating John Toland Introduction . Locating John Toland OLAND was desperately ill. He had recurring ‘pains in my thighs, reins and T stomach’ accompanied by ‘a total loss of appetite, hourly retchings, and very high colour’d water’. His hopes that this suffering was the symptom of ‘gravel’ that would pass with the stones were dashed. Confined to his chamber for weeks, he could keep down nothing but weak broth, and was scarcely able to walk. Reduced to relying on the kindnesses of others by disastrous invest- ments in the fashionable speculations of South Sea Company, Toland was on his uppers. Only a few years previously his pen had been at the command of government ministers and European princes: he had written for German queens, Savoyard princes, Irish peers and English earls.1 Despite his international celebrity, John Toland eventually died a slow, painful death in lowly circumstances, passing away in a rented back room of a carpenter’s cottage in March 1722. This was less than gentle scholarly poverty. Given the radical character of his reputation, perhaps it was no coincidence that the churchyard was that of St Mary’s Putney, which had entertained the political debates of the Levellers in the 1640s. Having suffered for months from a combination of the stone, severe rheumatism and ‘black-jaundice’, the final ‘violent indisposition’ that carried him away was a fever which ‘proved mortal to him about three of the clock on Sunday morning, the 11th instant, in the 53rd Year of his Age’.2 Typically for a man steeped in the writings of classical antiquity, Toland, called in one obituary ‘the Lucian of our times’, approached death with a ‘philosophical patience’, although papers left scattered in his room indicated he blamed the incompetence and greed of physicians for much of his misery.3 He was bedridden for over a month but his friends and patrons did what they could to make him comfortable.
    [Show full text]